Category: Student

I love matte liquid lipsticks so I was excited to be sent one to try out for Superdrug’s Blog Squad. The lipstick today is by e.l.f which admittedly is a brand I haven’t tried out all that much in the past. The shade I was sent is a gorgeous deep nude called Praline.

e.l.f’s packaging is pretty basic and generally the same for each item. From first impressions of the liquid lipstick I was quite surprised at how large the applicator is in comparisons to other brands.

I have found it quite hard to apply due to the size of the applicator and without a lip liner as I cant seem to get it neat around the lip line. I do absolutely love the colour though its just a shame its a bit awkward to use.

It is definitely not a long lasting liquid lipstick and does need touching up throughout the day but with that said I don’t think you can complain really for the price. Whilst I don’t hate the product I don’t love it either.

Time for another skincare review and todays product of choice is one I’ve been loving lately and its the Soap & Glory Scrub ‘Em and Leave ‘Em body buff. I have the 50ml pot which retails as £2.50 but you can get the huge 300ml pot for £8.

Firstly this body buff smells amazing it contains Babassu Oil, Sea Salt and is scented with their Mist You Madly body mist. It is a great exfoliator and feels rougher than any other body scrubs I have previously tried, however, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it didn’t feel scratchy but if you have sensitive skin it might not be for you.

I also think it would be perfect to add into a tanning routine as it leaves your skin feeling very smooth and exfoliated after use with no need to moisturise.

A slight issue with this scrub is it does collect in the bottom of the shower rather than washing away completely. If you are unsure whether or not to give this a try then I definitely recommend picking up a travel size.

“At Soap & Glory, we absolutely do not test our formulations on animals, however we can’t say that each and every ingredient that goes into them has not, at some point historically, been cleared for human use, by animal testing.” (Soapandglory.com)

I loved this product and would have no problems with purchasing a full size.

It’s that time of year again where University is upon us, firstly congratulations if you got into your chosen uni’s and courses! Or perhaps you are a returning student then its good luck for your continuing studies.

Today’s post is a mini survival post on how to take care of your health, body and skin during your year of study. Some of the products were kindly sent to me from Sam Jennings PR company and will feature a * next to them.

Iron Vital M*: These chewable iron tablets are great for those who don’t get enough iron in their diets and hate the taste of traditional iron tablets, these ones are fruity berry flavoured and cost £9.95 for 30 tablets at http://www.Healthy2u.co.uk. Anybody can suffer with iron deficiency so if you’re lacking energy it might not be all those late nights! These are particularly great for vegans and vegetarians who won’t be able to get a great source of iron from red meat.(Gluten Free, Lactose Free, Vegan & Vegetarian Friendly)

ImmunPRO Infection Blockers*: Fresher’s Flu is notorious and if you don’t catch it then you’re one of the lucky ones but if you are prone to catching nasty germs easily then ImmunPro Infection Blocker tablets might answer your prayers; these chocolate peppermint tablets form a barrier in the mouth and throat that offers protection from germs for 2 hours. Available in Boots for £7.95. (Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Lactose Free, No artificial colours or preservatives)

E.L.F Lip Scrub: Dry lips season is on the way and a perfect product to tackle chapped lips is this affordable scrub! A full review can be found here

Clarol Sebopure*: Long sufferer of acne prone, oily or combination skin? We all want perfect skin without it costing us a fortune or having to use multiple products at a time, well this moisturiser/serum is all you will need to stop your pores from being blocked or inflammation. You can use this product overnight or as a base for other products, I personally use it in the day underneath make up and ive had no breakouts! Best of all its suitable for Vegans and is free from perfumes or parabens. You can find it on http://www.clarol.co.uk and 50ml will cost you £12.95. A little of this product goes a long way.

Belmio Coffee*: A big must have for students is coffee, be the envy of all your friends with Belmio Coffee pods (suitable for Nespresso machines), why spend a fortune in Starbucks when you can have great tasting premium Belgium coffee at home and whenever you want? There’s a great range of flavours and with the introductory offer of £14.95 for 50 capsules you could even go halves with your friends! (https://www.belmio-cafe.co.uk/)

I wish you all the best of luck on your journeys and hope that these survival methods have helped or inspired you!

Got your own survival methods then why not leave them below in the comments?

It’s been a while since ive posted anything stationery related and it is one of my favourite things to blog because who doesn’t like stationery right? I am currently set to undertake a new internship at my university with my first month trial beginning tomorrow so it was the perfect excuse to buy pretty stationery pieces.

I decided to pop along to my local Paperchase and picked up some great items, unfortunately I don’t know when i’ll next have an excuse to buy even more notebooks and novelty bits!

I couldn’t resist picking up this‘Cute Animals’notebook for £4.50, its size A5 and is the perfect to just pop into your bag for any note-taking emergencies! Ive never been a plain coloured notebook kind of person so the cute animal print really appealed to me.

The Owl & Pussycat pens are actually in the sale and cost a mere £1.25, they are ballpoint and contain black and blue ink. The designs are quite quirky and personally I like the owl one more, however, the cat does have a rather Cheshire look about it.

A staple piece of stationery is the trusty highlighter pen, these cute Panda Highlighters cost £3.00 and come in a little plastic sleeve so there’s no way you could lose them! There’s also bears and cats available in this fun design, they all come in a set of 5.

Finally I picked up adorable Piggy Post Its reduced to £2, these are from Asda and not Paperchase! Although it does look like something Paperchase would do. Who said notes need to be boring? Gone are the days of generic yellow square post its.

Hopefully i’ll be able to get full use out of my new stationery so then i’ll be able to buy some more to blog about!

My Neighbour Totoro (1988) is a Studio Ghibli classic with Totoro being the adorable creature featured front and centre on this laptop case. For those who aren’t familiar with Studio Ghibli it has been described as being the Japanese alternative to Disney and features films such as Ponyo, Spirited Away and many more Anime features which are beautifully designed.

Having recently purchased a 10.1″ Notebook laptop for my third and final year at university I just knew it had to have an adorable case to carry it around in, this case was purchased off eBay for £6.26 (*price may have altered) and came from Hong Kong. You may be worried about the quality or length of time it takes to receive a product from Hong Kong, especially at such a low price but the delivery only took about a week and a half and so far the case is holding up fine.

The case is made of a soft material called Neoprene and has a felt like inside to cushion the laptop, as the case is specifically measured at 10.1″ for my Notebook there is no room to fit a charger but I don’t mind this as I know the plug wont scratch the casing of the Notebook.

I love that the case stands out with its nice colourful design and cute Totoro feature, it does also have handles that can be folded into the bag and 2 zips either side that meet in the middle.

I would definitely recommend this case if you are an Anime fan or would love a cute bag to case your laptop as there are plenty of designs to choose from! (Link at the bottom)

As you may have read from my previous posts I’m a massive stationery fan, my other posts showed alternative storage methods and the haul ive brought for my third and final year of university. Today’s post slightly differs and shows the ‘quirky’ purchases I have obtained including some cute memo pad/pen holders.

Storage Box

First up is the storage box itself which will feature in the background of the photo’s, this A4 sized storage box cost only £2.50 in Tesco and if like me you have enough stationery to open up a shop then storage is much needed. It has a cute ,technology’ print with lilac sides. It would make great storage for coursework or even if you’re moving into halls it’ll come in handy for storing small items or printer paper etc… It also fits nicely on top of printers and under the bed etc… I strongly recommend you keep your work, printer paper, plastic wallets separate so when it comes to deadlines you items are organised and you can easily access them.

Record Cards

Starting off with a necessity item, it isn’t exactly quirky but if you’re at university or do presentations at college then you will understand the significance of record cards. Mainly at university is when the lecturers expect you to have very little on show note wise, but unless you literally memorise the whole thing then you will need help, this is where the small record cards come into play. I picked up this set for £1 in Tesco and it comes in a set with blue, pink, yellow and green cards so you have a nice little selection to choose from; it also looks way better than having a large A4 sheet on show!

80’s Glam

Again not really as quirky but I thought it was a good price so it had to be included! Currently in WhSmith if you buy any stationery item then you can pick up the ’80’s Glam’ pack of 24 Sharpie pens for £6.99 saving £10! If you are doing an Art or Design course then these may be essential to you, as I study Film and Media they will primarily be used for notes and decorating plain storage boxes.

Starting off the quirky items is the Bunny Stapler (mine is white but I couldn’t get a good photo) it costs £5.99 and is on the WhSmith 4 for 3 promotion, again a necessity for college students as no doubt you will have to staple your coursework together! At university it isn’t required for us to staple our work together but if like me you have a heavily based theory course then you will get a lot of reading documents you need to read and print! The bunny is available in white and pink.

Memo Pad & Pen Holder

If you have already read my university haul post then you will have seen the dinosaur memo pad holder before, it comes with a large note block and notes can be held in it’s mouth, it can also store two pens just above the dinosaurs tail. It costs £2.99 and again is on the WhSmith 4 for 3 promotion.

Memo Pad & Pen Holder

Just like the dinosaur memo pad you can also buy a hippo, it does exactly the same function but it was too cute to resist. These memo pad holders would look great on your desk and will make sure you don’t forget important things if you put the note in it’s mouth! Again it’s on the same promotional offer, it would also make a great gift for anybody in education or even starting a new job.